Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : Deadly car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort, Intelligence agencies have uncovered a wider terror plot linked to the recent which killed 13 people. According to sources, the accused had planned to ready around 32 vehicles packed with explosives to carry out coordinated attacks across multiple locations.
Investigators revealed that the suspects had already begun modifying an i20 and an EcoSport for use in the planned explosions. Agencies are now probing whether other vehicles were being prepared as part of a larger conspiracy to execute serial blasts. “After the i20 and EcoSport, we found evidence suggesting preparations were underway to fit explosives into 32 more vehicles,” an intelligence official told to news agencies.
Sources said eight suspects were allegedly planning to trigger coordinated explosions at four locations, with each pair of operatives assigned to a target city. Preliminary findings suggest that each team intended to carry multiple improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for simultaneous attacks.
Meanwhile according to an official, the doctors arrested in connection with the “white-collar terror module” had raised more than Rs 26 lakh to procure materials used in the deadly blast.
The four suspects — Dr Muzammil Ganaie, Dr Adeel Ahmad Rather, Dr Shaheen Sayeed and Dr Umar Nabi — had pooled in the amount in cash, which was handed over to Dr Umar for safekeeping and operational use, they said.
Investigators believe the fund was linked to a larger terror conspiracy. Using the pooled money, the group had allegedly purchased around 26 quintals of NPK fertiliser approximately worth Rs 3 lakh from suppliers in Gurugram, Nuh and nearby towns.
Fresh CCTV footage from the day of the Delhi blast shows prime suspect Dr Umar Nabi walking near a mosque close to the Ramlila Maidan, police said on Thursday. In the footage, Umar can be seen walking straight along a narrow lane before turning his head to the right — the moment when the camera captures his face — and then continuing ahead. Investigators believe that he may have visited the mosque shortly before allegedly carrying out the explosion, a senior police officer said.
A medical student, identified as Mohammad Arif, has been detained by Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), from Kanpur, over an alleged connection to Delhi blast suspect Dr Shaheen Saeed, officials said. Gyanendra Kumar, Chief Medical Staff at LPS Institute of Cardiology & Cardiac Surgery in Kanpur, told ANI that Arif, a first-year cardiology student from Anantnag in Kashmir, was called in for questioning yesterday evening. He said that the administration here remains unaware of his life outside the campus. Dr Shaheen Saeed was arrested earlier in connection with the Faridabad arms and explosive haul.
Faridabad police have detained a man identified as Faheem, who allegedly parked the red Ford EcoSport linked to the recent Delhi blast in the Khandwali area, officials said on Thursday. According to intelligence agency sources, Faheem is a relative of the prime suspect, Dr Umar Un Nabi, and was reportedly in touch with him before the incident.
Nine more people have been arrested in Assam for putting up “offensive” social media posts following the Delhi blast, taking the total number of apprehensions in this regard to 15, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday. The CM on Wednesday said he has instructed the police to arrest those who have welcomed the blast in their social media posts. He said 35 people from different districts of the state have been identified in this connection. “We will investigate their links and if we find that anyone has links with Bangladesh or anyone other country, we will take very tough action against them,” the CM said.
